Video lands Clinton driver in court

A simple speeding citation has led to a criminal charge after a Clinton man allegedly recorded a traffic stop in Shrewsbury and posted it on YouTube this summer.

Irving J. Espinosa-Rodrigue, 26, of 42 Washington St., Clinton, was arraigned in Westboro District Court yesterday on one count of illegal wiretapping after police said he videotaped, with audio, his traffic stop on Route 9 in July by Officer Vincent Scanlon.

Police said that Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue had a female passenger videotape the confrontation, and did not notify Officer Scanlon that he was being taped. Police have not identified the female passenger.

According to Massachusetts law, it is illegal to secretly record a conversation in-person or over the telephone or another device, without informing all of those involved in the conversation that it is being recorded.

According to Officer Scanlon's report on file in Westboro District Court, he was patrolling Route 9 westbound on July 12 around 10 p.m. when a Toyota Corolla passed him at a high rate of speed.

Officer Scanlon said he clocked the Toyota's speed at 60 mph. The speed limit for that stretch of Route 9 is 50 mph.

Officer Scanlon stopped the car driven by Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue, who had a female passenger. Officer Scanlon issued Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue a citation and said when he turned to go to his cruiser, Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue called to him and asked him to clarify the violation.

“Let me get this straight, you clocked me for going 45 miles per hour in a 50 mile-per-hour zone,” Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue allegedly said. Officer Scanlon in his report noted that Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue corrected himself by saying “60 in a 50.”

According to the officer, Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue asked a question about the location of the speed limit sign, which he thought to be near J.J.'s Lounge, and was told that the sign was located just past South Street.

Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue then allegedly told Officer Scanlon that he had not received a ticket in a long time and was working hard to avoid getting speeding tickets.

“I told him that for someone with a poor driving history he should be more careful,” Officer Scanlon said, according to his report.

Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue disputed that he was speeding, saying it was not possible because he had his cruise control set.

“Yeah, like I have nothing better to do than stop you,” Officer Scanlon said he responded, and said he continued to return to his cruiser as Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue tried to continue the conversation.

A few days later, while he was off duty, Officer Scanlon said, he received a phone call from Officer Chad Chysna, who told him that the traffic stop was posted on YouTube.

Officer Scanlon searched the site for “Shrewsbury Police Bad Cops” and found a 90-second video and audio recording of the traffic stop, which also contained a few seconds of Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue's explanation to the female passenger of how to hold the device to best record the officer.

It was unclear from the court records what device was used to record the incident.

Mr. Espinosa-Rodrigue could not be reached by phone last night for comment; he does not have a listed phone number.